An object of the present invention is to provide a photo-alignable polymer which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has excellent upper layer coating properties and good liquid crystal alignment properties after being formed as a layer; a binder composition; a binder layer; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate; and an image display device. The photo-alignable polymer of an embodiment of the present invention is a photo-alignable polymer having a repeating unit A including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the repeating unit A has the cleavage group in a side chain, has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group in the side chain, and the photo-alignable polymer satisfies Condition 1 or Condition 2 shown below.

Condition 1: The photo-alignable polymer further has a repeating unit B including a photo-alignable group, in addition to the repeating unit A.

Condition 2: The repeating unit A includes a photo-alignable group on a side closer to the main chain than the cleavage group in the side chain.

A tunable film apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: first and second layers; a tunable liquid crystal layer disposed between the first and second layers; and a tuner configured to tune the liquid crystal layer to adjust a light diffusing angle of the tunable liquid crystal layer.

Provided is a liquid crystal display device comprising a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal composition disposed between said first substrate and said second substrate, wherein a surface of said first substrate in contact with said liquid crystal composition is provided with an alignment layer, while said second substrate has no alignment layer; and said liquid crystal composition comprises a liquid crystal compound, a self-aligning agent, and a polymerizable compound represented by Formula I,

##STR00001##

A polymer-dispersed liquid crystal composition and a PDLC type light control body using the composition is provided. The polymer-dispersed liquid crystal composition contains a silane-based monomer including at least one acryloyl group, a thiol-based monomer having at least one thiol group, an acryl-based monomer, a liquid crystal mixture, and a light initiator.

The invention relates to a glazing unit comprising a substrate coated with a variable light scattering system switching between a transparent state and a translucent state comprising a scattering layer able to scatter the incident light along scattering angles greater than the critical total internal reflection angle at the interface between the substrate and the air and at least one pair of elements absorbing visible light separated from one another at least by the scattering layer. The invention also relates to the use of said glazing unit as a projection or back-projection screen.

A modulator material layer includes a polymer matrix formed of a plurality of cross-linked polymer molecules and a plurality of droplets of liquid crystals within the polymer matrix. A planar macrocycle dye is dispersed within the plurality of droplets of liquid crystals. The planar macrocycle dye can include one or more of a phthalocanine, a porphyrin, a naphthalocyanine, a metallophthalocyanine, a metalloporphyrin, or a metallonaphthalocyanine.

The present invention is directed to a flexible controlled release film for delivering a medicinal or cosmetic agent, e.g., through the skin of a subject, which delivery system comprises (a) a microembossed flexible film including microcells; (b) a liquid composition filled in the microcells wherein said liquid composition comprises the medicinal or cosmetic agent; and (c) a flexible sealing layer to enclose the liquid composition within the microcells.

A silicon-containing compound, liquid-crystal composition and a liquid-crystal display using the silicon-containing compound are provided. The silicon-containing compound has a structure represented by Formula (I):

##STR00001## wherein K, R.sup.1, A.sup.1, A.sup.2, A.sup.3, A.sup.4, Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2, Z.sup.3, L.sup.7, L.sup.8, L.sup.9, X.sup.6, X.sup.7, n.sup.1, n.sup.2, n.sup.3, and n.sup.4 are defined as in the specification.

An electro-optic modulator is disclosed. The electro-optic modulator includes a modulator material film layer. The modulator material film layer includes a polymer matrix. Liquid crystals and getter molecules are dispersed within the polymer matrix. The liquid crystals are configured to modulate light transmissivity through the electro-optic modulator. The getter molecules capture or coordinate with cationic impurities present within the polymer matrix. By gettering the cationic impurities, switching of the device at modulated low frequencies are improved as well as a reduction on the switching voltage of the device. Three classes of getter molecules have been so far demonstrated to work: inorganic ion traps (dihydrogen ammonium phosphate), organic cation traps (EDTA), and organic ion extractors (nicotinic acid). An amount for the getter molecules may be 0.01 to 1.0 percent by weight of the polymer matrix.

A method for fabricating micro-cell structures is provided and has providing a liquid crystal mixture; performing a heating step on the liquid crystal mixture at a temperature ranging from 45 C. to 150 C., performing a heat induced phase separation step on the liquid crystal mixture at a thermal phase separation temperature for a thermal phase separation titre such that the liquid crystal mixture forms liquid crystal particles and a network light-curing adhesive, wherein the thermal phase separation temperature and the thermal phase separation time are determined by a changing rate of a bright area ratio of the liquid crystal mixture; and performing a photo-curing step on the liquid crystal mixture by emitting an ultraviolet light so that a plurality of micro-cell structures are formed. The micro-cell structures with different transparency are fabricated based on different values of the thermal phase separation temperature and the thermal phase separation time.